The Bábí-State Conflict at Shaykh T. Abarsí
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The Bábí-State Conflict at Shaykh T. abarsí SIYAMAK ZABIHI-MOGHADDAM Abstract The Shaykh T. abarsí episode was the first of four major clashes that occurred between the Bábís and the Qájár state from 1848 to 1853. It is often portrayed as a Bábí attempt to subvert the ruling dynasty. Primarily on the basis of a recon- struction of the episode from previously unpublished eyewitness accounts and other sources, and an analysis of the objectives of the Bábí participants, the paper argues that the Bábís were not intent on revolt. Rather, other background and immediate factors leading to the conflict are examined: the atmosphere of increased public hostility toward the Bábís, the latter’s understanding of holy war, the political instability in the country, and the change of power that occurred shortly before the conflict. Résumé L’épisode de Shaykh T. abarsí fut le premier de quatre affrontements majeurs qui ont opposé les bábís et l’État du Qájár entre 1848 et 1853. L’épisode est souvent dépeint comme une tentati v e de la part des bábís de renver ser la dynastie régnante. S’appuyant principalement sur une reconstitution de l’épisode à partir de récits de témoins oculaires et d’autres sources inédites, et d’une analyse des objectifs visés par les participants bábís, l’article fait valoir que les bábís ne cherchaient pas à inciter à une rébellion. L’auteur examine plutôt d’autres facteurs contex t u e l s et précipitants du conflit, à savo i r, le climat d’hostilité publique croissante e nve rs les bábís, la compréhension que ces dern i e rs avaient de la guerre sainte, l ’ i n s t abilité politique qui régnait alors dans le pays, et le changement de gouverne survenu peu avant le conflit. 53 54 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 14. 1/2. 2004 Resumen El episodio de Shaykh T. abarsí fue el primero de cuatro encontronazos mayores que ocurrieron entre los bábíes y la soberanía Qájár de 1848 a 1853. Ocurre fre- cuentemente que el hecho se represente como un atentado de subvertir la dinastía imperante. Comenzando con la reconstrucción del episodio basado en declara- ciones de testigos oculares y otras fuentes, más un análisis de los objetivos de los participantes bábíes, la disertación determina que los bábíes no intentaban suble- vación. Más bien, se sondean los factores inmediatos y de fondo histórico condu- centes al conflicto; el ambiente de recrudecimiento de hostilidad para con los bábíes, la comprensión de estos últimos del significado del concepto de guerra consagrada a fines religiosos, la inestabilidad política en el país, y el cambio del poder que ocurrió poco antes del conflicto. INTRODUCTION In May 1844 a young merchant from Shiraz, Siyyid ‘Alí-Muh. ammad, made the claim that he was the Báb (Gate). To his contemporaries the term referred to an intermediary between the community of believers and the messianic figure of Islamic eschatology, the Mahdi. By 1848 the reli- gious movement that formed around Him had attracted tens of thousands of adherents. The September of that year saw the beginning of the Shaykh T.abarsí episode in Mazandaran, which became the first of four major clashes between the Bábís and the Qájár state. The purpose of this article is to investigate the background, immediate circumstances, and events of the Shaykh T.abarsí conflict. It examines those developments, both in the political sphere and within the Bábí com- munity, that led to the outbreak of open warfare in 1848, and focuses on the question of the objectives of the Bábí participants in the conflict. The Shaykh T. abarsí episode is often portrayed as the first of a series of unsuc- cessful attempts by the Bábís to subvert the ruling dynasty. This is the view reflected in Western diplomatic reports and contemporary state chronicles, and has since been accepted by many scholars. In an influential study, MacEoin attempts to place the Shaykh T.abarsí and the later Bábí- st a te conflicts in the context of a Bábí concept of ho l y war (“Babi Concept ” ) . The Bábí-State Conflict at Shaykh T.abarsí 55 His discussion, however, largely overlooks the implications of the devel- opment of this concept in the Báb’s later writings. More significantly, a theoretical discussion of the Bábí concept of holy war, or jihad, cannot by itself explain the objectives of the Bábís involved. Rather, to find mean- ingful interpretations of the Bábís’ intentions, it is essential to analyze carefully what happened and how the Bábí participants themselves under- stood their situation and their own actions. Such a study has been lacking in the case of the Shaykh T. abarsí episode though there are relatively a large number of sources available on the conflict. This article is an attempt to provide such an analysis. There are several Bábí and Bahá’í eyewitness accounts of the clash, which are generally more reliable than other sources available. They also reflect the Bábí participants’ perceptions of their circumstances and their own actions, which are crucial for understanding the event. This paper draws in particular on these accounts. It also discusses briefly the concept of jihad in the Báb’s later writings. The paper argues that when the Bábís found themselves trapped in Mazandaran, they chose to fight a defensive holy war as a testimony to the truth of their cause. It was not their objec- tive to mount an insurrection. Investigating the question of the objectives of the Bábís at Shaykh T. abarsí also casts light on a broader and more essential issue: the nature of the Bábí movement in the early years of its development.1 The Shaykh T.abarsí episode constituted a turning point in the history of the Bábí movement. It was the first time that the state, previously con- tent with the incarceration of the Báb in a remote corner of the country, resolutely moved to suppress the Bábís. Near the end of the conflict, some ten thousand troops and irregulars were engaged in fighting a few hun- dred Bábís. The episode lasted eight months and left an estimated fifteen hundred dead, almost a third of whom were Bábís. After this experience, the state acted more swiftly and forcefully against the Bábís when new conflicts broke out in other parts of Iran. It was also during the conflict at Shaykh T. abarsí that half of the Letters of the Living, the core of the leadership of the movement, lost their lives. This was a severe blow, and it contributed to the almost entire collapse of the movement a few years 56 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 14. 1/2. 2004 later. The episode also played a part in the government’s decision to exe- cute the Báb. Decades later its memory was still fresh in the minds of the people of Mazandaran. The Bábí movement has often been interpreted in light of its later devel- opment into either Azalí Bábism or the Bahá’í movement. Although they share the same historical origins, and many of the doctrines and tenets of the early Bábí movement can be found in both of them, Azalí Bábism and the Bahá’í Faith constitute departures, in different directions, from the original Bábí movement. Treating the Bábí movement as identical with either one displaces it from its proper historical context. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BÁBÍ MOVEMENT The spread of the Bábí movement in Iran and Iraq was swift and wide and provoked immediate opposition from the clergy. The Báb was banished to the far-off province of Azerbaijan, and some of his followers were mal- t r e ated. In October 1847 a young S hayk hí, probably assisted by two o t hers, killed the powerful mujtahid of Qazvin, Mullá Muh. ammad-Taqíy- i-B a rag hání, who was known for his anti-S hayk hí and anti-Bábí propa- ga nda. The assassination intensified the hostility of the clergy toward the Bábís, several of whom were killed. This was the first instance of Bábís being put to death in Iran. In April 1848 the Báb was brought to Tabriz, the provincial capital, to be interrogated in the presence of the crown prince and the clergy.2 On this occasion the Báb publicly declared Himself to be the Hidden Imam, the Mahdi, an open challenge to the clergy for which He was bastinadoed. In late June 1848, a number of Bábís gathered at Badasht, a small village in Khurasan, and here the movement effectively broke with Islam. Shortly afterwards, a group of Bábís, under the leadership of Mullá H. usayn-i- Bushrú’í, the Báb’s most renowned disciple, set out from Khurasan toward Mazandaran, where they became involved in the conflict of Shaykh T. abarsí. In 1850, two other Bábí-state clashes occurred, in which more than two thousand Bábís lost their lives. In July of that same year the Báb The Bábí-State Conflict at Shaykh T.abarsí 57 was publicly executed. In August 1852, a group of Bábís made an abortive attempt on the life of the shah. Simultaneously, Mírzá Yah. yá Azal, r ega r ded by many of the Bábís as their new leader, tried to stage a revolt in Mazandaran, which also failed. In the aftermath of these attempts, the remaining Bábí leadership was almost entirely wiped out. Azal’s elder half-brother, Mírzá H. usayn-‘Alíy-i-Núrí Bahá’u’lláh, who was among those imprisoned after the assassination attempt, was spared execution, but exiled to Iraq. In 1853, another Bábí-state clash occurred, in which some two hundred and fifty Bábís lost their lives.